Refrigerating-machine.



W. F. DAVIS. REFRIGBRATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION IILEIJ JULY 23,1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor W. F. DAVIS.

REFRIGERATING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 23,1912. 1,071,71 3, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

4 8HEBTB-SHEET 2.

,fif'f I j i J 1 i WWI I I HIIHHIH ftriessesg. [rive/750K l7 mzazmlzww W. F. DAVIS. REFRIGERATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23,1912. 1,07 1 ,7 1 3 Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W. F. DAVIS.

REFRIGERATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION mum JULY 23, 1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ED STATES PATENT orurcn.

WILLIAM F. DAVIS, OF PORTLAND, OREGON, ASSIGNOB TO UNT [VEBSAL REFRIGERAT- ING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

BEFBIG-EBATING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters I'atent.

Patented Sept. 2 1913.

To' all whom it'may concern Be it known. that I, WILLIAM F. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating- Machines, of which the following is a specimachines heretofore in use.

A special form of condenser is utilized, which is extremely advantageous in operation in that a gradual cooling of the gas in the process of condensation is effected, the specific instrumentalities by which the above action is attained being particularly novel. Also included as an essential fea-.

ture of the invention is an evaporator of peculiar construction, in the operation of which a circulation of the liquid refrigerant is automatically established b the movement of gas derived from sai circulating in members of said evaporator. The evaporator comprises also a separator for effectively separating the gas from the liquid refrigerant which gas passes on to the compressor and is forced by the latter to the condenser to be returned to a liquid state for subsequent use in the cycle of operation of the machine.

Still another important part of the present invention is the provision of an oiling system for the proper lubrication, principally of the working parts of the compressor, said system, involvin acirculation of the oil also, as controlled y the circulating refrigerating medium, an oilingsystem of the highest efliciency being thus produced.

Since under certain conditions it is desirable that the. refrigerating machine of this invention shall be automatically con trolled, as-hereinafter set forth, an attachment for said machine is provided comprising a valve mechanism designed mainly for automatic control by a thermostat, pressure, or equivalent type of governor or regulator.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 refrigerant is a view in elevation of a machine embodymg the essential features of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 1, partly broken away, and the compressor and condenser being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a view showing the condenser tubing and battle plates, certain parts being in elevation and others in section. Fig. 4 is a top plan of the tubing illustrated in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of the scale tra 6 is a detail view showin Fig. 7 1s a side view showing the machine substantially as illustrated in Fig. 1, but having the auxiliary valve mechanism controlling the operation of the condenser and the evaporator. Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing one of the controlling valves forming a part of the valve mechanism shown in Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the upperpart, and 2 the lower part of a condenser, the said condenser being preferably of cylindrical form and forming a support for the compressor 3, motor 4, and bearings 5,,the compressor 3 being hereinafter particularly described. Connected with the upper side of the condenser 1, is a pipe 6, to the upper end of which is connected a ressure gage 6, of ordinar construction. he two parts of the con enser are connected together by means of the flanges 9 and 10, through which the bolts 9 pass.

Disposed within the part 1 of the condenser is a coiled tubing 43, particularly.

Fig. 7 a mo ified orm of evaporator.

shown in Fig. 3, the purpose of which is to circulate cold water so as to condense the ammonia vapors passed into the condenser in the manner later referred to; the ends of the tubing 43 are connected to the pipe 11, and to the pipe'12, both shown in Fig. 1,

the pipe 11 being connected with a source of water supply, and having a controlling valve 11, and the pipe 12 leading to a water 'acket 47 surrounding the lower portion 0 the compressor 3.

The compressor 3 is fastened to the part 1 of the condenser by means of the cap screws 13, the compressor bein o erated in a vertical position, and the cy in or of the work.

same being on the under side of the crank shaft, which will be fully described later.

The numeral 14 represents a drive wheel which is rotated in any suitable manner from the motor 4:, and 15' is a drive shaft connected with the wheel 14, and rotating in the bearings 5, 5.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1, I wish to state that the evaporator shown in this figure embodies features of novelty that will now be described. The evaporator consists of a plurality of substantially parallel pipes 16, which slope, as will be seen in Fig. 1, from left to right, the right hand ends of the pipes being connected to a header 17, and the higher or left hand ends being connected to the header 18. 19 represents a separating drum, into the upper part of which the header 18 opens, and into a lower part of which the pipe 20 opens, liquid ammonia being fed through the ipe 20.. At the opposite end of the drum 19 rom that into which the members 18 and 20 open, the pipe 21 connects with the upper portion of thedrum, said pipe serving as a gas outlet for conducting the ammonia gas to the compressor. The header 17 opens into the lower part of the drum 19 in a position below the pipe 21.

While it has been proposed heretofore to employ tubular evaporators, the special construction of such device as herein described is designed to afford increasedefliciency over similar means at present in use. The liquid refrigerant will necessarily evaporate in proportion to the rate of absorption of heat thereby, said heat being carried off bythe gas resulting from evaporation, the heat causing agitation of the liquid refrigerant. The greater the extent of the exposed surface of the members of the evaporator, the

greater will be the agitation of the liquid resulting in a corresponding increase in the rate of evaporation. The tubular members or pipes 16 shown in Fig. 1 afford a maximum extent of surface for a minimum amount of liquid, and the circulation of the refrigerant through said pipes produces a perfect separation of the gas from said liquid. In its operation, a suflicient Y amount of liquid refrigerant is admitted. through the pipe 20'and controlling valve.

20 whereby to fill the evaporating pipes 16, the headers 17 and 18, and a part of the separating drum 19. i The refrigerant boils in the entire evaporator causing an agita-. tion of all of the liquid, and the evaporating pipes 16 afiord a major portion of them:- posed surface 'of the evaporator, consequently doing most of the refrigerating dental 'to the evaporating process is produced in the pipes 16, and as this gas is lighter than the liquid, it follows that the gas will rise naturally tov the highest points liquid in the drum 19 being,

The greatest portion of the gas incishown) by the cross pipes 19",

within the'pipe's 16; in other words, the gas travels to the higher ends of the pipes into aforesaid traveling upwardly in said pipes 16, and liquid replacing that circulated through the pipes 16 is fed by gravity from the drum 19 through the header 17 the of course, rcplenished from the condenser through the pipe 20. A complete separation of the gas from the liquid in the evaporator is accomplished by the peculiar arrangement of the separator or drum 19 proper in relation to the other parts of the evaporator. Thus the header 17 is connected to the lowest portion of the drum 19 to supply the densest liquid to the .evaporating pipes '16, and the header 18 is connected above the liquid line or normal surface of the liquid in the drum, so that the gas incidental to evaporation will pass to the upper portion of the drum, while the entrained liquid will pass to the lowermost portion of said drum. As also indicated, the feed pipe 20 is connected to the central portion of the drum 19 above the liquid level therein, and the point of connection of the gas outlet pipe 21 is such that the latter will carry off only the thoroughly separated and driest gas obtained by allowing space for the effective separation hereinbcfore described. A maximum cooling effect in connection with the rapid evaporation of relatively small quantities :Df liquid is ohtainable by the evaporator above set forth, the highest efficiency being thus assured. Furthermore, I contemplate that the evaporator aforesaid need not "berestricted to the. 4

the peculiar headers and a sinprovision of drum 19, since it may be gle separator or built with pipes, each unit including headers, but a single separating drum being employed common to all of the units. Furthermore, the drum may be exactly horizontal, inclined, and either parallel or at an angle with respect to the evaporating pipes; also, several complete evaporators could be connected with a header, if desired. As shown in Fig. 1, particularly, a brine receptacle or tank 50 partially receives the evaporating pipes, in a well-known manner.

A modified form of evaporator is shown in Fig. 6, the latter being constructed fiat or with the various members in practically the same plane, for economy of space as wellfas other considerations. Instead of employing the drum shown in Fig. 2, a pair of pipes 19 are employed, said pipes being connected at a plurality of places (two are lfy which means the liquid and gas may find their own several units of evaporating levels. As in the previously described instance, the pipe 20 is connected with the lowermost of the two pipes 19", liquid being fed through pipe 20, and the headers 17 and 18 are connected, respectively, with the lowermost and uppermost of the pipes 19, the outlet pipe 21 being connected with the upper pipe 19*, so that the operation is the same as in Fig. 1.

. By the form of evaporators described, it will be insured that the ammonia gas will be fed from the evaporators to the compressor without any entrained liquid, the construction described permitting of the evaporation of the whole of the ammonia, and being such that the ammonia can not escape from the evaporator unless it has assumed the gaseous state. The evaporators may, of course, be placed in compartments where a low temperature is desired, or they may be utilized so as to freeze liquids, ice cream, etc.

The gases which escape from the pipe 21 pass intoipipe 22 at a suitable position, said pipe 22 having located therein a scale trap 8. The latter consists of a cylindrical easing, into which one section of the pipe 22 enters and projects a suitable distanceabove the base of the casing. The pipe 22 is open throughout a portion of its length within the casing, and is covered with a screen 8, by means of which scale and other impurities are withheld and prevented from passing into the compressor, hereinafter described. The vapors which escape through the screen 8 pass to the outlet 8", which is connected with the other section of the pipe 22, which connects directly with the compressor. The compressor 3 to which the gas passes by means of the pipe 22 entering the upper end thereof, is made of special metal, proof against the action of ammonia gas and possessing great weight and density. The cylinder and crank casing of the compressor 3 are preferably made in one casting so as to obtain a rigid structure. The compressor is shown in the accompanying drawings as a single cylinder machine, but it is to be understood that, within the scope of the present invention, a multicylinder machine may be employed. The compressor consists of the crank case 23, the piston 24, suction valve 28, and the dis charge valve 25. The gas, after it has entered through pipe 22, passes through crank case 23, through the piston suction valve 28, into the cylinder in which the piston works. The compression stroke forces the gas through the discharge valve 25, and out of the compressor through tube 26' to the condenser 1 through valve 27. The suction valve 28 is made of tool steel, and is in a guide 29 which forms the seat for the valve, said guide being preferably formed of mild steel. A spiral spring 30 is provided for controlling the movement of the valve 28. The discharge valve 25 is located in the false head 31 of the cylinder, and is preferably constructed of tool steel. The false head 31 forms the valve seat, is made of mild steel, and is held in place by a heavy spring 32. The discharge valve 25 is provided with a stem 33, and the valve is held in place by a steel wire spiral sprin 34.

The drive shaft 15 is provided at its end within the crank case 23, with a wheel 35 provided with a crank pin 37, to which is connected by means of bearings of Babbit metal, a connecting rod 36, the latter being formed of open hearth crucible steel. The lower end of the rod 36 is connected to the pin 38, which rocks in a Babbit bushing in the piston 24.

The oiling system employed in connection with the present invention comprises several features of novelty which will now be described. By the employment of this system, perfectly clean, filtered oil may be furnished to all of the bearings and valves hereinbefore referred to. The source of the oil is the chamber of the condenser, the oil collecting at the lowest stratum 40 therein, from which it is drawn through the tube 41 (shown in Fig. 2), through the pipe 41, extending vertically and shown in Fig. 1, to the oil filter 7. The latter consists of a cylindrical enlargement of the pipe 41 and may be filled with any desired oil filtering substance. The oil passes from the filter 7 by way of pipe 39, which'connects with the pipe 22, the arrangement being shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that the oil joins the gas which flows into the compressor through the pipe 22, and the said oil is atomized and delivered to all parts of the compressor and the valves therein. Before entering the compressor, the oil passes through a strainer 42 arranged beneath the top cover of the compressor. The

oil will be compressed with the gas and passes, along with the gas, back to the condenser 1 by way of pipe 26, and will settle at the bottom 40 of the condensing chamber, whence it will be again drawn off for a second cycle.

The gas which has been compressed and which enters the condensing chamber through the pipe 26 and valve 27, comes into contact with the cooling surface of the tubing 43, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and the gas thus cooled and under compression, will be condensed to the liquid state and will be precipitated, in which liquid state it will be fed to the evaporators.

The tubing 43 hereinbefore referred to as providing the cooling surface of the'condenser, is of special formation. Said tubing comprises the terminal A constituting the axis of the tubing, so to speak, said terminal extending upwardly and then being coiled nated a".

toward the centerof terminal A, a space being left surrounding said terminalportion A, and the tubing being then bent downwardly as shown at b, whereupon it is coiled circularly and outwardly to form another coil similar to the coil a and desigis bent downwardly to form another coil a like the coil a. 'Any suit-able number of' theseveral coils aforesaid may be formed,

according to the extent of cooling surface" required for the tubing 43, this not being material to the invention. It will be noted that battle plates 43 and 43 are provided intermediate certain of the coils a, a, a", and a, the plates 43 being of less diameter than the plates 43', and the latter plates be- .ing formed with much larger central openings than those of the plates 43. When the several parts of the condenser are operativcly arranged, the compressed gas deliv ered to the condenser from the compressor 3 is caused to take a tortuous path in passing through said condenser. Said gas passes around the coil a at its outer periphery, thence inwardly between the coils a and a, through the central opening of the baffle plate 43, thence outwardly around the pe ripheral edge of the third bafile plate 43, again inwardly through the central opening .of the fourth batlle plate 43*, and so on, if

other battle plates are provided. The tubing 43 has the terminal C which, as hereinbefore mentioned, is connected with the water supply pipe 11 so that in the operation of the machine the cooling liquid or water is fed into the tubing 43 at the lower end of the latter and travels upwardly through the various coils above described, untilit passes out of the tubing through the terminal A of the latter, to the jacket 47. On the other hand the compressed and super-heated gas is admitted into the condenser from the compressor at the upper end of the tubing 43, and travels downwardly in the manner just previously described through a very tortuous path. Therefore, the hottest gas comes into contact with the hottest water in the cooling coils of the tubing 43, and when the gas reaches the lower end of the condenser, it will have been gradually cooled to approximately the same temperature as that of the cooling fluid or water when admitted to the tubing 43 through the terminal A of the latter.

A jacket 47 surrounds the lower portion of the compressor 3,'said jacket being preferably of hollow cylindrical form, and is From the coil 0." the tubing 43' thermostat connected .by means of the pipe 12 with one terminal of the tubing 43. A waste pipe 48 connects with the upper portion of the jacket 47, and the cold waterwhich has passed through the tubing 43 for the purpose of condensing the ammonia vapors,

will pass by way of the pipe 12 into the jacket, where, after exercislng a' cooling effect on the portion of the compressor in which the gas is 1 compressed, will be dis charged outwardly through the pipe 48 and wasted. I

Beneath the jacket 47, and within the discharge pipe 26, is a soft metal diaphragm 49, made of suflicient weight to withstand the usual working pressure, and the said diaphragm is so constructed that it willblow out, should the pressure generated in the compressed ammonia be too great; the ammonia will then be discharged through pipe 52 to any desired location.

In the ordinary operation of the refrigerating machine hereinbefore described, the valve 27 in the length of the pipe 26, which latter connects the compressor with the condenser, would control the passage of the compressed gas through said pipe 26. In like manner, the valve 11 in the'length of the pipe 11 controls the passage of the cooling fluid from the tubing 43 of the condenser to the jacket 47. The valves ll and 27 would be manually operable in an ob vious manner, of course. Under some conditions, however, it may be desirable to provide automatic means to control the starting and stopping of the refrigerating machine, and such means may include a I or pressure regulator, not shown, adapted to be connected with the lever 45 illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. Said lever 45 is mounted upon a shaft 46 having a plurality of cams .46. Each of the cams 46" controls the operation of a valve, and said valve comprises a casing 53 (see Fig. 8).

The casing 53 has a central bore, with which communicate the fluid passages 54 and 55,.the latter by way of the passage 56. The passage 56 is closed by means of a plug 57 movable in the casing 53 and which plug is maintained in, its outermost position normally by means of a spring 58, so that communication is established between the passages 54 and 56. It will be apparent that a partial rotation of the shaft 46 and its cams 46 is adapted to impart longitudinal movement to the valve plugs 57 so as to cut off communication between the passages 54 and 55.

Referring to Fig. 7, it will be noted that the auxiliary pipe 26 connects the compresso-r with the condenser to supply the compressed gas to the latter. Said pipe 26 is equivalent to the pipe 26 for all practical purposes, and one of the .valves shown in --Fig.- 8 is interposed -in the length of the pipe 26*. A pipe 11 is connected with the terminal 0 of the tubing 43 of the condenser and has one of the valves shown in Fig. 8 in its length to control the passage of the cooling fluid or water through said pipe into the tubing 43. Said pipe 11* may also be provided with a manually operable valve 11. Furthermore, a pipe 39 corresponding with the pipe 39, shown in Fig. 1, is adapted to convey the oil from the condenser chamber to the compressor, and has one of the valves shown in Fig. 8 in its length to control the passage of oil therethrough.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that valves operable from the shaft 46 are arranged to control the passage of the fluids through the various pipes of the machine, and since the operation of the shaft 46 is dependent upon an automatic control, the refrigerating action of the whole machine will likewise be controlled from the shaft 46 in a manner which will be readily apparent. i In Fig. 7 there are illustrated several valves such as shown in Fig. '8 in detail, and which are not included in the pipe connections 11, 26 and 39. The last-mentioned several valves would be utilized for pipes leading to another machine, and any number of lines would be susceptible of automatic control from the shaft 46 by merely elongating said shaft and providing a sufficient number of cams 46 to operate those valves needed when the connections are multiplied along the lines above suggested.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a condensing chamber, a coil 7 adapted for the circulation of cold water, disposed within said chamber, compressing mechanism, a cooling jacket surrounding said compressing mechanism, a pipe connecting said coil with said cooling jacket to deliver water thereto, means for discharging water from said jacket, means to conduct compressed gas from the compress-ing mechanism to the condensing chamber, a pipe to deliver gas to said compressor, and an oil pipe connected with the lower part afthe condensing chamber and also connectecifwith said pipe to deliver oil thereto. 2. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a condensing chamber, cooling means disposed therein, compressing mechanism, means to conduct compressed gas from the compressing mechanism to the condensing chamber, a pipe to deliver'gas to said compressor, an oil pipe connected with the lower part of the condensing chamher, and also connected with the said pipe to deliver oil thereto, an oil filter through which the oil passes before delivery to said first-named pipe, and a strainer located within said compressing mechanism through which the admixed oil and gas pass.

3. In a refrigerating machine, the combination with a condensing chamber, a coil pipe disposed therein and adapted to re ceive a cooling agent, a pipe connected with said coil to deliver such cooling agent thereto, compressing mechanism, a pipe connecting said compressing mechanism with said condensing chamber to deliver compressed gas to said chamber, a pipe to deliver gas to said compressing mechanism, means for de liveriug oil to the compressing mechanism, the gas pipe from the compressing mechanism to the condensing chamber being adapted to conduct oil from the compressing mechanism to the condenser under the compressing influence of the compressor, whereby volat'ilized oil is adapted to be delivered to the condensing chamber and condensed therein with the gas, and means for returning the condensed oil from the condenser to the compressor.

4. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a condensing chamber, means for conducting a cooling medium through said chamber, compressing mechanism, means to conduct compressed gas from the compress-- ing mechanism to the condensing chamber, a cooling jacket surrounding said compressing mechanism, connections between the condensing chamber and said com ressing mechanism, said connections inclu ing an. oil pipe connected with the lower part of the condensing chamber, an oil filter connected with said oil pipe, a pipe connecting the said oil filter with the compressing mechanism to deliver oil thereto, and ai strainer associated with the compressing mechanism through which the oil and gas ass.

p 5. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of acondensing chamber, means for| conducting a cooling medium through said chamber, compressing mechanism, a cooling jacket surrounding said compressing mechanism, a pipe connected with the said cool' ing means to deliver water to said jacket, means for discharging water from said jacket, a pipe connecting said compressing mechanism with said condensing chamber, a diaphragm disposed in said pipe and adapt. ed to burst when the pressure of the gas. becomes excessive, a discharge pipe con nected with said first-named pipe, through which the gas is discharged when said diaphragm is bursted, a pipe to deliver gas to said compressor, and a pipe connected with the lower part of the condensing chamber and also connected with said lastnamed pipe to deliver oil thereto.

6. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a condenser, a compressor, an

. evaporator,

ing adapted to contain oil, and connections between the condenser and the compressor whereby the passage of the' gas from the evaporator to the compressor is adapted to simultaneously cause a flow of oil from the condenser to the compressor, said condenser including'a chamber, tubing arranged in said chamber and comprising coils, a cooling fluid supply connected with said tube, and means for conducting the cooling fluid from the tubing to the compressor for cooling working parts of the latter.

7. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a. condensing chamber, cooling means disposed therein, compressing mechanism, means to conduct compressed gas from the compressing mechanism to the con densing chamber, a pipe to deliver gas to said compressor, and an oil pipe connected with the lower part of the condensing chamber and also connected, with said pipe to deliver oil thereto, the cooling means aforesaid comprising tubing, a water supply connected with said tubing, and means for conducting water from the tubing to the compressor forcooling the working parts of the latter.

8. In a refrigerating machine, the combination of a condensing chamber, means for conducting a cooling medium through said chamber, compressing mechanism, means to conduct compressed gas from the compressing mechanism to the condensing chamber,

a pipe to deliver gas to said compressor, an oil pipe connected with the lower part of the condensing chamber and also connected In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM F, DAVIS Witnesses:

WILLIAM J. WRISWALL, R. STEINBERG. 

